Dani Olmo’s Barcelona situation explained: Why can’t he play in La Liga and why wasn’t he registered?

Barcelona will be taking La Liga to court yet again after the league has ruled that Dani Olmo and Pau Victor can’t be registered until the summer due to Barcelona not having enough space under the La Liga salary cap following the expiration of their injury exemptions. Both players are not in the squad for Barcelona as they face Barbastro in the Copa Del Rey but Barcelona will take this matter to the Higher Sports Council (CSD) to obtain a precautionary measure to register both players via court order.

After the Monitoring Committee of the RFEF-LaLiga Coordination Agreement met, they determined that as of Jan. 3, the duo couldn’t be registered.

“The Monitoring Committee agrees not to grant the prior visa or the definitive license requested by FC Barcelona for the players Mr. Daniel Olmo Carvajal and Mr. Pau Víctor Delgado in accordance with the literal interpretation of articles 130.2 and 141.5 of the General Regulations of the RFEF that prevent a player whose license is canceled from, during the course of the same season, obtaining a license in the same club team to which he was already linked,” the committee said in a statement. 

Via an appeal, there is a way out for Barcelona as effectively the two players are now free agents unless they are re registered. Olmo reportedly has a clause in his contract that could allow him to leave for free if not registered although it has also been reported that he will not look to exercise that clause due to begin committed to Barcelona. Only time will tell if this is going to be resolved.

Here’s what to know:

How was Olmo registered?

A former Barcelona academy player, Olmo joined Barcelona during the summer from RB Leipzig while Victor was added from Barcelona B. To complete those registrations during the summer, Barcelona used a rule to use 80% of the salary due to an injured player to register the duo but that only lasted until the end of the calendar year. Andreas Christensen’s salary was used to make this happen.

Olmo was effective while on the pitch for Barcelona appearing in 15 matches in all competitions, scoring six goals and assisting one more as Barcelona turned in impressive performances under new manager Hansi Flick. Victor also has scored two goals, assisting one more as the primary backup for Robert Lewandowski. 

Why wasn’t the registration extended?

The registration of the duo was to allow Barcelona time to become compliant with the league’s financial fair play rules to then extend their registration to the end of the season. Due to delays in renovations to the Sporify Camp Nou and needing to spend more money to bring in Wojciech Szczesny when Marc Andre ter Stegen went down with an injury, it left Barcelona to search for other options. 

They agreed to a deal to sell VIP boxes at Spotify Camp Nou but were unable to prove that they had the funds from that deal to get the duo registered, which now leads to the current appeal. These have already gone to two court hearings about interpreting the rules but could continue to be challenged by Barcelona. 

No strangers to this

In the past Barcelina have mitigated situations like this one by selling media rights and signing a stadium naming rights deal with Spotify, but since La Liga implemented the spending cap, Barcelona have been up against it. Inigo Martinez was also registered due to these rules but unlike Victor and Olmo, his registration is still fine moving forward. Barcelona did sign a commercial deal with Nike but will still need additional help to get past this issue.

What’s next?

Due to league rules stating that a club can’t re-register a player in the same season in which their registration was canceled, Barcelona will need to circumvent that which is where a CSD hearing will be needed. Barcelona plan on finding a way to do that and the players leaving on free transfers isn’t a simple process, which can limit suiters. After already losing two appeals to register the duo, it remains to be seen if a third will be successful. 

Barcelona currently sit third in La Liga behind Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid on 38 points. Having played a game more than Atletico Madrid, their gap could grow beyond five points in the league by their next league match, an away trip to Getafe on Jan 18.